Category: Business Updates

Do you know the people behind the faces of YCC’s Senior Leadership Team?

We caught up with them to find out exactly what they do for the charity, and how they divide their management of all of the small pieces that make up the big Fresh Futures picture… Oh, and we asked them a few silly questions, too – just for fun!

Mark Farmer – Chief Executive Officer

I came to Fresh Futures in November 2020, just as we went into lockdown – an interesting way to start a new role in a new organisation in a new area!

As Chief Executive, I am responsible to the Board of Trustees for driving the charity forwards with a clear strategic vision, to maximise the impact we have. In practice, this means managing the leadership team and working with them and external partners and funders to develop our services and promote Fresh Futures.

I believe in being open and available, and try to be visible and accessible to all the teams and sites across Fresh Futures. Although the majority of my time on site is at Brian Jackson House, I do enjoy being out and about, particularly if good coffee is on offer 😊 

For those of you who don’t me, my background is in senor charity leadership across a range of sectors – hospitality, outdoor education; travel, healthcare, and events  – and I try to bring this range of experience to my role to benefit Fresh Futures.

What’s your signature dish that you cook at home? Paella on a Spanish paella ring in the garden with a few beers.

If you won an all-expenses paid trip around the world, where would you visit? I’d take a train coast to coast across Canada then head to New Zealand and walk Te Araroa (google it!!)

What does your perfect weekend look like? In the fells in clear weather soaking up the views – ideally of snow-covered mountains

Catherine McKenzie – Head of Children & Family Services

Based at Brian Jackson House, I oversee a highly passionate team in delivering services to support the wellbeing of children and their families. We focus our support on healthy relationships, loneliness & isolation, and health & wellbeing.

Under the Children & Family Services umbrella we have 5 different teams who work towards different objectives and strive to support different members of the family: Thriving Kirklees, Community Connections, Hopeful Families (Employability), Child Contact, and DAPP (Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programme).

The main focus and aim of all the support we offer is empowering people, by providing and educating in the skills, tools, and resources required to ensure and encourage the desire to make positive changes, which in turn, improves their lives. In my role, every day is different and every day provides a new challenge, which is why I find my role so enjoyable.  

If you could have one superpower what would it be? I would really love to have the ability to turn back time.

If you could go back 10 years and tell yourself something, what would you say? I would remind my younger self that anything is possible, so dream big!

What is your favourite movie of all time? Without a doubt… Dirty Dancing!

Jacqui Green – Headteacher at Brian Jackson College

I am the Head Teacher of Brian Jackson College which has two sites (Wellington House, Huddersfield & Vision House, Heckmondwike), although I have been working at Fresh Futures since 2013 across various roles.  

You can usually find me at either provision working operationally; researching and improving both schools which are forever evolving. I currently lead on the school curriculum which I continue to develop ensuring that it is broad and balanced providing our pupils with the same entitlement for education as they would receive in a mainstream setting.

It’s difficult to explain a typical day within either provision as one day is never the same as the next. Supporting pupils with SEMH has taught me about empathy, patience and an understanding of trauma and how that can impact a young persons life. I’m extremely proud of the work we do and to be part of something that makes a difference in a young persons life.

What’s the most spontaneous thing you have done in your life? When I was 18 years old, on a whim, I decided to give up my job and take a tent with £50 in my pocket;  jump on a ferry from hull to Hoek van Holland and go tulip bulb picking.

What does your perfect weekend look like? A perfect weekend would involve; sitting outside a caravan in the sunshine with the sight and sound of the sea whispering against shore.

What’s your signature dish that you cook at home? I love to cook Indian and Pakistani food especially curries. Never from a packet! My signature dish is a Dhansak and involves lentils. Its sweet and full of goodness just like me!

Sara Eltman – Head of Income & Partnerships

My role is a based at Brian Jackson House two to three days a week, with some remote work from home. I joined the team in June 2021 as Head of Income & Partnerships, which was a newly created role for the charity.

The Income & Partnerships team includes our Fundraising & Communications Co-ordinator and Pass It On charity shop employees and volunteers. The goals of our team are to raise awareness of the work of YCC, and ultimately to raise additional funds so the charity can continue to run and develop its services.

Our team manages the charities social media platforms and website content, and shares news and updates on fundraising and activities of the different services across Fresh Futures. The Income & Partnerships team work together with supporters from across our communities, businesses, groups and organisations, and external funders to generate income through a range of income streams.

If you could go back 10 years and tell yourself something, what would you say? I’d tell myself that you only live once, and you should do what makes you happy!

What’s the craziest thing you have ever done? Been crammed in a bus travelling up a narrow track then jumping off the side of a very high mountain in Turkey paragliding.

Tell us about your favourite holiday? My favourite holiday is to the Greek island of Kos to a little place called Kefalos.

Rob Edden – Head of Finance & Support Services

Based at Brian Jackson House, my role is predominantly finance based, although I do also work a lot with the management of the charity’s 4 buildings; Brian Jackson House, Jo Cox House, Vision House and Wellington House.

On the finance side of things, I am responsible for everything to do with budgets. I work with each department to set realistic budgets that meet the needs of the teams, and then ensure that budgets are adhered to and that the charity runs in the most financially efficient way possible. I report to the Finance Committee and the Board of Trustees, who I provide reports for on a monthly basis. 

Under the ‘Support Services’ umbrella falls everything to do with property. From the day-to-day running to one-off refurbishment and rental negotiations. This means I have two teams, the finance team, based at BJH, and the front of house team who are based across BJH and JCH. 

Tell us about your favourite holiday? Zambia, a working holiday! bit of finance in the day, with Safari, Victoria Falls, white water rafting and being chased by elephant on horse back the rest of the time.

What is your favourite movie of all time? Can’t have one 😊. Highlander – retro fantasy. Blindside – feel good, rooting for underdog, It’s a Wonderful Life, there is no other way to start Christmas and get a bit of perspective on your life.

If you were deserted on an island, what three things would you take with you? Spotify, my golf clubs….my wife 😊

Fresh Futures are so proud to have supported 781 children, across 263 families, from Kirklees this Christmas during our 2022 Gift Appeal.

We asked families living in Kirklees who were at risk of not being able to provide their children with a gift on Christmas Day to contact us and the response was overwhelming. 2022 was a particularly hard year due to the Cost-of-Living Crisis and for those already worried about Christmas, it was an even more stressful time of year.

We appealed to members of the public and businesses who donated 100s of brand-new toys and gifts for children aged between 0 – 18 years.

We were supported by an amazing number of local businesses including Fintel, Trust Ford, Arnold Clark, Turntable Vinyl Café, Barnardo’s, Tesco, Card Factory, Body Evolution, Kirklees Foster Carers Network, Linthwaite Clough Early Years Unit and members of the public through our Secret Santa campaign alongside JCI Secret Santa.

Without the support from these companies and members of the public we would not have been able to support so many families and children.

Lynne Haigh, Fundraising and Communications Coordinator at YCC, who helped coordinate the Gift Appeal said “It has been overwhelming to receive so much support from companies and members of the public who have wanted to help Fresh Futures. We were expecting to help around 500 children and surpassed this, reaching almost 800. It was such a heart-warming campaign to be involved in and I can’t wait to do it again, bigger and better, in 2023!”

If you would like to support Fresh Futures in any way, then please contact [email protected] and find out how you or your organisation could get involved to Improve Lives and Inspire Change.

As part of the White Ribbon Campaign Yorkshire Children’s Centre and EdShift presented ‘Speak Volumes – the importance of amplifying children’s voices in domestic abuse perpetrator programmes’ on Tuesday 6^th December 2022 at Brian Jackson House. This is an extremely important topic as The Domestic Abuse Act was amended in 2022 to recognise that children in a domestic abuse household are victims in their own right.

EdShift was founded in April 2019 by Ellie Brook and delivers quality, drama-based violence prevention programmes and digital resources to children aged 7 – 16. Their SpotLight Programme was developed in response to the deaths of two children and 14 women, caused by domestic violence, in the first three weeks of lockdown and aims to give a voice to children so they aren’t silenced or ignored. It ensures children know what to do in an emergency, have a safe place to go and also teaches them key aspects within the law and how to recognise red flags in their own relationships.

EdShift works with schools and other professionals linked to the child to ensure they take a trauma informed approach to how they are acting and give them the support they need.

Fresh Futures Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programme (DAPP) is a 17-week high risk programme using both group work and 1:1 sessions. It has been running for 10 years and became RESPECT accredited in 2015. The team assess an individual’s suitability for the course before they join the pre group sessions and then the 14-week rolling programme. During the course they are encouraged to learn skills to help them deal with issues such as anger, negative thoughts, and aggression in their daily lives. Men who have completed the course have come back to discuss how it has changed their mindset and talk about their experiences which is a great way for those on the course to engage and see positive outcomes. Fresh Futures also has a Domestic Abuse Worker who is in contact with the victims and ensures they are supported and will notify the DAPP facilitators if they are experiencing any issues outside of the course.  

EdShift and Fresh Futures started to work together in July 2022 and have completed a successful pilot where individuals on the DAPP course were shown the SpotLight exhibition. The participants were encouraged to understand the impact that domestic violence has on children. A lot of the men admitted to being unaware of the effect domestic abuse was having on their children, especially when they weren’t in the same room when the abuse was taking place.

One of the tasks that had a huge impact on the men was the “Power Tower”, the men were asked to fill in a blank brick and write what they would say to their children if they could. They took their brick home and are encouraged to look at it as motivation to continue to change for their children. One of the participants on the course said “The most impactful exercise was when you asked us to write on the power brick – it was like a light bulb moment. It made me think – oh my god what have I done to my children. It was a period of introspection that really made me think – If I could, what would I say to my children and the only appropriate thing I could say is sorry but I couldn’t get the word out.”

The pilot has received amazing feedback from participants and Fresh Futures and EdShift will continue to work together:

• All of the men agreed the most significant impact was seeing it directly from the children and hearing it from the children’s voices.
• All of the men agreed that the session significantly increased their motivation to change
• All of the men agreed that they viewed the impact of their behaviour on their children differently after the session.
• 98% of the men agreed that their motivation to change significantly increased after the session.
• 100% of the men agreed that there was a significant difference in how they felt the impact of their behaviour had on their children.

“My motivation changed because I finally started to see things from my daughter’s perspective and not my own. The impact that my behaviour has had on her and what that might mean for her future is terrifying but that makes me want to change.”

To learn more about DAPP click HERE and to learn more about EdShift click HERE.

We are feeling Christmassy here at Fresh Futures and have several exciting Christmas Campaigns that members of the public can get involved with to help us raise funds for those that need our support over the festive period.

We are so excited this year to have our very own Fresh Futures Christmas Cards that were designed by Sam, a Year 11 student at Brian Jackson College. These are on sale NOW at Brian Jackson House and Jo Cox House.

Our Christmas Tree of Wishes is up at Brian Jackson House and companies can donate a personalised bauble for £50 which will then be proudly displayed on the tree.

Our Christmas Gift Appeal started in November, and we have already had several companies reach out to help us collect gifts. Members of the public can also get involved and this year we are the Huddersfield collection point for the JCI Secret Santa Appeal. All gifts donated will be given to families in Kirklees that need help this Christmas.

On Wednesday 14^th December, members of staff at Fresh Futures will be celebrating Festive Jumper Day and having an internal festive lunch get together. There will be a hamper and raffle prizes available to win on the day.

Lynne Haigh, Fundraising Communications and Coordinator at Fresh Futures said “It has been extremely busy in the run up to Christmas and it is so exciting to have all the different ways for people to reach out and support Fresh Futures. We are pleased that, as a result, we will be able to support so many families and individuals during these difficult times.”

All proceeds raised from our Christmas Campaigns will go directly back to Fresh Futures and support disadvantaged children, young people and their families.

If you would like to support Fresh Futures in any way, then please contact [email protected] and find out how you or your organisation could get involved to Improve Lives and Inspire Change.

Fresh Futures are excited to announce that this year we have our very own charity Christmas Cards. The card was designed by Sam, a student at our Huddersfield Brian Jackson College and was the winner of a competition we initiated with the students across both sites.

Joolz Cooper, Brian Jackson Colleges Art Teacher, assisted with the competition and said “The brief was for students to design a Christmas card to incorporate the core values of Fresh Futures. We had lots of wonderful entries, and the winner and runner ups were chosen anonymously by our Head Teacher, Jacqui Green. The winner was Sam from our Huddersfield site, and the runners up were Kelsey from Huddersfield and Milan from Heckmondwike. Pupils spent time in lessons working on their cards to get the amazing, finished results. They all embraced their designs across several lessons and had the opportunity to use a range of mediums for their finished designs. The winner, Sam, used mixed media and collage with a range of techniques to produce his superb, finished piece. Prizes in the form of vouchers were presented by the Chief Executive of YCC, Mark Farmer, and all staff and pupils are proud of what they have achieved.”

Mark Farmer, CEO of YCC, visited the college last week to present the students with their vouchers and cards and to also congratulate them on the final designs. Sam was extremely pleased that his card was the winning design and is excited to see them go on sale at the Colleges and Fresh Futures buildings.

The cards are now on sale at Jo Cox House and Brian Jackson House, they are £5 for a pack of 10 and all donations received from the sale of the cards will go towards supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged children, young people, and their families across Kirklees.

We have been generously supported on this project by Aura Print, a printing company based in Huddersfield. They very kindly gifted us the printed cards, envelopes, and packaging and have been a pleasure to work with throughout the process. Visit their website HERE.

If you would like to support Fresh Futures in any way, then please contact [email protected] and find out how you or your organisation could get involved to Improve Lives and Inspire Change.

Brian Jackson College, Heckmondwike has recently undergone a makeover and Fresh Futures are so happy with the results. During the half-term break we took the opportunity to spruce up the common room as a surprise for when the students returned.

Nicola Atkinson, Deputy Head teacher at the College said “On behalf of all pupils and staff at Brian Jackson College, we would like to take the opportunity to thank the volunteers who took the time to come over and re-vamp the pupils’ social space. The space looks much brighter and cleaner, and pupils can now enjoy playing Xbox, pool, and other activities in between lessons.”

We were supported on this project by several local businesses including Ramsdens Solicitors, Maximus, National Day Nursery Association, Turner & Townsend as well as a few very helpful College staff who came in during their time off to lend a hand.

The whole team did an outstanding job and completed the works within 3 days!

Alice Bray, Employment Advisor at Maximus who helped on day said “Everyone really enjoyed getting involved and doing something meaningful with our time out of the office. We really hope the space is enjoyed by the students. BJC offer really important and valuable opportunities for young people that need it, so it was great to be involved.”

Fresh Futures would also like to say a huge thank you to Dulux who provided paint for the project.

If you would like to get involved in future projects like this, please contact Lucy via email on [email protected] or click here to see how you can support Fresh Futures Work With Us – Yorkshire Children’s Centre (freshfutures.org.uk).

We are excited to report that tsl Kirklees recently awarded Fresh Futures a grant of £2,000 as part of the Household Support Grant 2022. We were able to use this money to help reduce hardship and offer access to essential supplies and services to eligible families and individuals through our Safety In The Home service.

Due to the cost-of-living crisis it was evident when speaking to families, they were having to make difficult choices and unfortunately sacrifice essential items.

With the help of the grant, we were able to offer extra support to 16 families and individuals by providing the following items:

Fresh Futures works closely with other organisations such as Locala, HomeStart, Community Plus and many more. Working in partnership with such organisations means we can reach more families and individuals that need our support. A great example of this collaborative work was when HomeStart identified a family where Mum needed further help and Fresh Futures we able to step in and provide her with a washing machine as part of the Household Support Grant. Here is what the Mum said about the support we provided “I was struggling as a single parent, especially with the cost of living going up and a washing machine wasn’t something I would ever have been able to afford, I was having to travel to Bradford to wash my babies clothes, using public transport which was extremely difficult, it has made such a difference to me to be able to do my own washing at home – I’m so happy with my new washing machine, thank you”.

If you have any questions about the safety in the home service, please contact us on [email protected] or 01484 415465

Fresh Futures is a charity that seeks to Improve Lives and Inspire Change by supporting children, young people and their families in our communities. Our communities are made up of amazing people, who have also recently welcomed many Ukrainian families into the community.

Fresh Futures recognises that refugees and evacuees can be extremely vulnerable and disadvantaged when they arrive in the UK, and we have previously made a commitment to support them and their families where we can.

We currently support the DWP with their programme to offer work to those arriving to the UK from Ukraine, and we are constantly looking at ways we can offer help to those that need it.

We caught up with Ryan Cross, Community Anchor Coordinator at YCC, who is supporting Ukrainian refugees as part of his role. Ryan told us: “For us at YCC, it’s about support and making sure that we can work directly with people to truly understand what they need, what is working, and what isn’t working. This can range from connecting a refugee to activities in the area or supporting a community group to set up a new activity”.

Ryan is involved in arranging Coffee Mornings for Ukrainian refugees where they can drop in and speak to Ryan about any questions or concerns that they might have. Ryan is also looking to set up a thank you event for Host Families who have welcomed Ukrainians into their home recently.

Ryan also told us: “I like to think the work I am doing is leading to a far more sustainable, and accessible third sector in Batley and Spen. It also gives the community a wider understanding of what we do and what we’re capable of doing at YCC.”

Following on from our promise to do whatever we can to support refugees through our charity, on Tuesday 27^th September Fresh Futures attended the ‘Kirklees Welcomes – Job Fair and Advice for Refugees’ event at Batley Library.

The event was open to local employers and set up to encourage members of the public that have recently arrived in the UK from Ukraine to discuss job opportunities in the Kirklees area.

The fair was well attended and Fresh Futures were able to engage with attendees about available jobs at the charity.

Samantha Latchayya, Leadership Team Coordinator at Fresh Futures said “I met with some lovely people who have arrived from Ukraine. Many of them have transferable skills, have graduated from University, or have worked in similar environments before. We are hoping that there could be some people who are interested in our roles and might apply for the jobs.”

At YCC, we value our employees and the incredible work they do to improve lives and inspire change. Our culture promotes development and diversification across all departments, from front-line service workers to in-house administration.

If you would like more information on current vacancies at Fresh Futures please visit Work With Us – Yorkshire Children’s Centre (freshfutures.org.uk)

On 6th September, 100 members of the Fresh Futures team came together at Brian Jackson House, Huddersfield for the very first All Staff Team Day.

The day was hosted by Chief Exec, Mark Farmer, Coordinated by Samantha Latchayya, Facilitated by Steve Hargreaves of The Compassionate Leadership Company, and included support from Sam Teale of Sam Teale Productions.

On arrival, staff were greeted with a short talk and refreshments before getting stuck into the ice-breaker challenge – a huge game of staff bingo! Staff had to tick off random facts about one another, such as: Who got married at the top of a ski slope?, Who is left handed?, and who has been to Egypt?

The day then followed with several sessions, which included Lego challenges, a one-team ball challenge, campfire discussions surrounding team achievements, creating Fresh Futures video clips for departments and photo treasure hunts – with prizes awarded to the winning teams.

The Charity’s Chair of Trustees, Ira Laketic-Ljubojevic told us, “It was a fantastic day – so many people attended, everyone contributed, everyone had fun and lots of new or extended connections were made. A true success and another important step for #WeAreYCC”.

We can’t wait to share a video with you from the day, in a few days time…. watch this space!!